A hit-and-run driver who killed a toddler in a case that shocked China has been jailed for three years - but 18 passers-by who ignored the two-year-old as she lay bleeding in the street have escaped punishment.

Horrific video footage of Wang Yue - known as Yue Yue - being knocked down by a van in Foshan, a city in the southern province
of Guandong, caused outrage when it hit the internet last year.

The footage showed people walking or cycling past her for the next seven
minutes before a second vehicle runs her over. Van driver Hu Jun has been jailed for three-and-a-half years for 'involuntary homicide', following her death - but those who walked by have gone unpunished.

Scroll down for the video... Warning: Graphic content

Ignored: Yue Yue was left with horrific brain injuries and never recovered

Unaware: Video footage shows the youngster crossing the road at Guangfo Hardware Market, without realising the van is approaching her

At the time, the injured toddler was eventually taken to
hospital and survived for more than a week before eventually dying of
brain failure. Both drivers who ran over her over were arrested.

The footage of the incident quickly spread via the internet causing shock around the world and triggered a bout of bitter soul searching in China about the nation’s apparent moral decay in the midst of an economic boom.

Xinhua news agency said Hu was convicted of 'involuntary homicide' by a court in Foshan.

He told the court he was aware he had hit something, but did not realise it was a child.

Hu is reported to have paid part of the toddler's medical expenses.

The good samaritan who came to Wang Yue's aid, rubbish collector Chen Xianmei, has been praised as a 'national role model,' reports the Huffington Post.Yue Yue's family reporteldy received nearly £30,000 to help pay for her medical treatment.

Grief: Yue Yue's mother and father were left devastated by their daughter's death

Support: Yue Yue's parents received donations from across the world to help them pay for her hospital treatment

Loved ones: Yue Yue pictured being held by her mother with her older brother in the foreground

As
a result of Yue Yue's death, people in China called upon the government to introduce a
'Good Samaritan law' to punish passersby who refuse to help people in
need.

The case triggered
a furore across the nation, which questioned how such callousness could
occur - with some blaming it a descent into an 'immoral modern society'.

China's economic boom and the growing
disparity between the rich and poor have made changing social values a
contentious topic, with some lamenting what they see as materialism
replacing morals.

Yue Yue's death quickly became the most talked about topic on China's version of Twitter, Sina's Weibo.

One local Communist party chief urged 'searching reflection' over the incident, according to the official Guangzhou Daily.

'We should look into the ugliness in ourselves with a dagger of conscience and bite the soul-searching bullet,' he said.

Many people in China are hesitant to
help people who appear to be in distress for fear that they will be
blamed.

More than 4.5 million people have left comments about the case online, with many calling for a law to shield people who come to an injured person's aid, the Huffington Post reports.

High-profile lawsuits have ended with good Samaritans ordered to
pay hefty fines to individuals they sought to help.

Despite its current social conditions, the Chinese government can point to some positive achievements, having lifted 400 million out of poverty to create a new middle class living in modern high rises in futuristic cities and peasants finding new lives in the factory boom towns.

The vast majority of Chinese are literate and many well educated. Many are poor but none are starving.

Injuries: Yue Yue is hit by a second van, which also fails to stop, leaving her lying in the road

Good Samaritan: Eventually a woman dragged Yue Yue to the side of the road before her mother arrived on the scene